Chapter 12

CHAPTERTWELVE

Ashlyn’s phone rang just as she was pulling into the parking lot near Food For All. It had been a week since the guys had been deployed, and she’d just finished her deliveries for the day. Her hopes skyrocketed for a moment, thinking it was Slate calling to tell her he was home, but when she looked at the screen, she was surprised to see James’s name on the display.

She cut off her engine and clicked on the green button. “Hey, James. Everything okay?”

“Of course. You said I could call anytime,” the older man said.

“I did,” Ashlyn agreed. “What’s up?”

“I just realized that you brought too much food,” James said. “I wondered what was taking you so long in the kitchen earlier, getting my lunch ready, and now I know. You’re sneaky.”

Ashlyn laughed. “Two of the people I was supposed to deliver to today weren’t home when I got there, so I had extra,” Ashlyn said, lying through her teeth. “And I didn’t want the food to go to waste, and since I know how much you love Elodie’s corn frittatas, I figured you wouldn’t mind if I left the extras.”

“Of course I don’t mind. And yes, I love frittatas. Thank you. Although I’d prefer your company to the food,” he said quietly.

Ashlyn’s heart nearly broke. It was obvious the older man was lonely. And while she enjoyed spending time with him, she couldn’t stay too long at his house and still get to all the other families and people she needed to deliver to. “Aiden’s supposed to come on Sunday, right?”

“Yeah. But it’s not the same. I napped the last few times he was here,” James said.

“You did? I didn’t think you were much of a napper,” Ashlyn said in concern.

“I’m not. Or at least I didn’t use to be. I’m an old man, and getting older every day.”

“You aren’t that old,” Ashlyn told him.

He laughed. “I’m eighty-eight,” he said as if she’d forgotten.

“I know. But you’re a young eighty-eight,” she replied, smiling at his chuckle.

“Right. Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for looking out for me. I appreciate the extra meals.”

“You’re welcome.”

“And you never know, maybe next time I’ll send you a text thingy.”

Ashlyn didn’t have the heart to tell him that he couldn’t send her a text message from the old-fashioned landline he still insisted on using in his house. “Sounds good. Have a good weekend, James. I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Looking forward to it. Try not to stress too much this weekend about your man. He’s a SEAL, he’ll be fine.”

Ashlyn had admitted to James earlier how much she was missing Slate. “I’ll try.”

“See you next week.”

“Bye.” Ashlyn clicked off the phone and took a deep breath. She didn’t have plans for the night, and she had a feeling she’d obsess about Slate’s absence. Even though whatever mission they were on wasn’t supposed to be dangerous, she still worried about him, and with every day that passed that he didn’t return, she imagined all sorts of things going wrong.

She reached over and grabbed her purse off the passenger seat and turned to open her door—and saw someone standing right next to her car.

She let out a girly screech and jumped in fright. Then the person leaned down and smiled at her through the window.

“Slate?” she yelled, frantically trying to grab the door handle. It felt like she was all thumbs, but she finally managed to open the door. Slate had taken a step backward so she could get out, then she was in his arms.

“Oh my God! You’re back!” she exclaimed.

“I’m back,” he said with a chuckle.

His laugh was the best thing she’d heard in what felt like forever. She clung to him and closed her eyes. Simply breathing in his familiar scent made her world seem ten times brighter.

To her horror, she felt her throat closing up and her lip began to tremble.

“Just got back and I checked the app, saw you were on your way here. Thought I’d come and surprise you.” Slate pulled back…then frowned when he saw her face. “Ash? What’s wrong?”

“N-n-nothing,” Ashlyn stuttered, doing her best not to burst into tears.

He gave her a skeptical look. “Babe. Talk to me.”

“I’m just so happy you’re back. And that you’re safe,” she managed to say.

“I told you this mission wasn’t going to be a big deal. In fact, it was completely uneventful. We stood around all day trying to look badass and mean, when inside we were bored out of our skulls. I had a lot of time to think about all the things I wanted to do to you when I got back,” he said with a sexy smirk.

Ashlyn took a deep breath, and that mostly worked to help her regain composure. “Yeah?” she asked. “Like what?”

“Like eat you out and watch you explode all over my fingers. Then when you’re still coming, push inside you and feel you strangle my cock. Then fuck you hard and fast until you’re begging me to let you come a second time. That’s just for starters.”

“Holy crap,” Ashlyn said. The pictures he painted weren’t anything they hadn’t already done, but somehow, after a week of worrying about him and sleeping alone, she was more turned on than she could ever remember being. “Yes.”

Slate beamed. “Your place or mine?”

“Don’t care,” Ashlyn said.

“Mine,” Slate decided. “You need your car this weekend?”

“Um, I don’t think so. I don’t have any plans.”

“You do now. To be with me…in my bed, my shower, on my couch, spread-eagle on my table while I eat you out, on your knees taking my cock down your throat… That okay?”

Ashlyn could barely speak. Her nipples were almost painfully tight under her shirt. She wanted Slate. Now.

“Yes. Slate?”

“Yeah, babe?”

“Kiss me.”

“With pleasure,” he said before lowering his head.

Ashlyn sighed in contentment the second his lips touched hers. She tangled her fingers as well as she could in his short hair and held on. One leg lifted, and she pressed her thigh against his own. She couldn’t get close enough. His hand moved down to grasp her leg, holding her against him as they made out in the parking lot.

“Guess you know the guys are back,” Lexie called out.

Ashlyn pulled away in a daze, but Slate didn’t let go of her leg. He had one arm around her back, keeping her close, and she was wrapped around him as if she’d never let go. As Lexie approached, he finally let her leg slide down his own, slowly, but he didn’t release his grip around her back. Ashlyn suspected it was because he wanted to hide the erection she could feel against her belly.

“I left a note for you inside Food For All because I didn’t know you were back,” Lexie said. “It just says the guys are home and I’m heading out for the weekend.”

“Slate surprised me,” Ashlyn told her friend. “Do you think the others know? Should we call them?”

“They know,” Slate assured her. “Mustang called Elodie from the airport, and Aleck and Jag did the same for their women. Pid’s going to pick up Monica at work.”

“All right then. Great,” Ashlyn said. She hadn’t thought much about how big a deal it was when the team returned from a mission, but after the tough week she’d had…she finally got it. Keeping the fact that they were home from her friends would have seemed cruel now.

“Have a good weekend,” Lexie said as she headed for her car. “I’d say to call me later, but I’m guessing none of us are gonna come up for air before Monday.”

Ashlyn felt Slate chuckling against her. “See you Monday!” she called to her friend.

Lexie waved and closed her car door and started up the engine.

Slate turned her and headed for his car, which Ashlyn hadn’t seen because she’d been too preoccupied talking with James when she’d parked. He opened the passenger door, but took Ashlyn into his arms for a long, heartfelt hug rather than letting her climb inside.

Ashlyn once more felt emotion clogging her throat, but she swallowed it down. She wanted to show Slate that she could be strong. That she hadn’t fallen apart while he was gone.

“Missed you,” he mumbled into her neck as he held her tightly.

“Same,” she returned.

Another twenty seconds or so passed as they simply embraced, before Slate finally took a deep breath and pulled back. “You hungry?” he asked.

Ashlyn shook her head. “No. You?”

“No. I need you, babe.”

“Then let go of me so we can get to your house and you can have me,” she quipped.

Slate smiled. “Right.” He gestured to the seat. “Your throne, my princess.”

He was joking, but Ashlyn couldn’t help but feel warm and fuzzy from his words.

“That’s queen to you,” she retorted.

Slate smirked, shutting the door once she was seated. Then he jogged around the front of the car—actually jogged, as if he couldn’t stand the five extra seconds it would take to walk to the driver’s side—and jerked open the door.

They didn’t speak on the way to his house, but Slate reached for her hand and held it tightly the entire drive.

* * *

Hours later, Slate lay with his elbow on the mattress and his head in his hand next to Ashlyn, watching her sleep. It was late, after midnight, but he couldn’t rest. He was still on Bahrain time and wasn’t very tired, even with the long hours of travel.

Ashlyn had been ravenous when they’d finally gotten home. She’d started to strip him even before he’d had the door closed and locked behind them. She went to her knees right in the entryway of his house and took his cock in her mouth. She hadn’t let him hold back either, keeping her mouth on him even when he’d warned her that he was going to come. She’d taken his load down her throat…then looked up at him with a satisfied smile, licking her lips.

He’d kind of lost it then, needing to taste her and return the favor. Eventually they’d made it to his bedroom, where he’d teased her, bringing her to the brink of orgasm over and over until she was both pleading and threatening his life if he didn’t let her come.

Afterward, he’d put her on her knees and taken her from behind.

Slate couldn’t remember a better homecoming than this one. He’d missed Ashlyn more than he thought he would. He hadn’t lied earlier, he’d spent most of his time thinking about her. But it wasn’t just sexual thoughts. He wondered how her deliveries were going, if the girls’ night at Kenna and Aleck’s place went all right, how the Turner family was doing, and if she had any new clients. He hoped she was eating enough and taking care of herself, because she had a tendency to forget about herself if someone else needed something.

Ashlyn sighed in her sleep and turned onto her side, snuggling into him. Slate shifted onto his back and pulled her closer. She didn’t wake up, as she was out hard, as usual, but she still wrapped her arm around him and hiked her leg on top of his. She clung to him even in her sleep.

With any other woman, he might’ve been annoyed. Ashlyn actually thought he was a cuddler, and he’d never corrected her. But in truth, before Ashlyn, he hadn’t liked anyone touching him when he slept. So much about this relationship was different. He’d missed the way she gravitated toward him in her sleep. His bunk had seemed empty over the last week.

After landing, he’d instantly pulled up the tracker app to see where she was. Instead of calling or texting to let her know he was back, Slate had decided to surprise her at Food For All. Her happiness at seeing him was exactly what he’d hoped for. It was his own joy at seeing Ashlyn that was somewhat surprising. He hadn’t realized exactly how much he’d missed her until she was back in his arms.

They hadn’t been able to take their hands, or lips, off each other long enough to even eat since getting home, which Slate needed to make sure he rectified in the morning. He didn’t know what he had in the house, but he’d figure something out. While sex was good, he didn’t want Ashlyn to go hungry.

“It’s good to be home,” he whispered.

It was. But it was even better to be home with Ashlyn in his arms.

She sighed in her sleep but didn’t loosen her hold on him.

Slate stared up at the ceiling, realizing he was completely content. Asking Ashlyn out had been one of the best decisions he’d made in a very long time. She was unlike any girlfriend he’d ever had. He loved to laugh with her, tease her…even their bickering turned him on. And she gave as good as she got. They were well-matched sexually, of course. Yeah, he didn’t know if he’d ever been this content. This…settled.

He thought back to their conversation before he’d gone to Bahrain, about whether or not they were exclusive. He hadn’t even thought about dating anyone else before she’d brought it up. He had no desire to seek out anyone either…not that he was in a position to do so. If he wasn’t on the base, he was hanging out with his teammates or Ashlyn. Frankly, he didn’t have time to give to someone else.

Slate could also admit—if only to himself—that knowing Aiden had asked her out made an uncomfortable feeling settle in his gut. He’d never been good at sharing, even as a kid. The thought of Ashlyn laughing and joking with another man like she did with him? The very idea made his jaw clench.

And the thought of her sleeping with another man, wrapping her gorgeous body around him, made Slate want to fucking hurt someone.

As far as he was concerned, they were exclusive. He’d asked her to let him know if she met someone else she was interested in, but Slate knew himself too well. If that happened, he’d have to let her go. He had no interest in half of Ashlyn’s time and attention.

Blinking in surprise, Slate felt his whole body flush as it occurred to him that he wanted Ashlyn all to himself. He couldn’t remember feeling this way before. If a woman got too clingy, he’d always found a way to gently back away and eventually break it off. Suddenly, it felt as if he was becoming the clingy one in the relationship.

But, Slate realized in amazement, he wasn’t upset about that.

It still felt as if he and Ashlyn were casually dating. He didn’t see her every day, even though they did talk most days. She didn’t have an issue with him leaving after spending an evening together, although lately they were spending the entire night together, whether they had sex or not.

Closing his eyes, Slate decided he was thinking too hard about their relationship. They were good. Enjoying each other’s company. It was inevitable that the connection he felt with her would taper off sooner or later. It always had in the past, so he expected nothing different.

And when it did, they’d still be friends, would still see each other when they hung out with his team and their women. This relationship was just fine as-is.